Kenneth Anderson (writer): Difference between revisions

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===Early life===

===Early life===

Kenneth Anderson was born on 8 March 1910 in the [[Bolarum]] area of [[Secunderabad]], in the [[princely state]] of [[Hyderabad State|Hyderabad]] in [[British Raj|British India]]. He belonged to a [[Scottish people|Scottish]] family that had lived in India for many generations, and were originally from [[Glasgow]]. He was baptised at the [[Holy Trinity Church, Bolarum]], and was the only child of his parents. He was often called “Jock” by his family and friends, and sometimes “Jock-Scotchie” by the latter.<ref name=”Grave”/><ref name=”JM Ch8″/> His father, Douglas Stuart Anderson, was the eldest of four children, and was born in [[Calcutta]] but brought up in Bolarum. His mother, Lucy Ann Taylor (née Bailey), was a half-orphan who grew up in the guardianship of her two aunts, Mrs Bower and Mrs Bates.

Kenneth Anderson was born on 8 March 1910 in the [[Bolarum]] area of [[Secunderabad]], in the [[princely state]] of [[Hyderabad State|Hyderabad]] in [[British Raj|British India]]. He belonged to a [[Scottish people|Scottish]] family that had lived in India for many generations, and were originally from [[Glasgow]]. He was baptised at the [[Holy Trinity Church, Bolarum]], and was the only child of his parents. He was often called “Jock” by his family and friends, and sometimes “Jock-Scotchie” by the latter.<ref name=”Grave”/><ref name=”JM Ch8″/> His father, Douglas Stuart Anderson, was the eldest of four children, and was born in [[Calcutta]] but brought up in Bolarum. His mother, Lucy Ann Taylor (née Bailey), was a half-orphan who grew up in the guardianship of her two aunts, Mrs Bower and Mrs Bates.

Douglas was an officer in the [[British Indian Army]] in the military accounts section. The family moved to [[Bangalore]] during [[World War I]]. They started living in the house of Lucy’s maternal grandfather John Taylor, who, for his services to the [[Mysore Commission]], had been gifted land in Bangalore adjacent to the [[Cubbon Park]] by [[Mark Cubbon (army officer)|Sir Mark Cubbon]], the British Commissioner. Lucy became the head of the choir of [[St. Mark’s Cathedral, Bengaluru|St Mark’s Cathedral]], where they had gotten married in 1908. Douglas used to go [[waterfowl hunting]] in the [[lake]]s and [[pond|tanks]] in and around Bangalore, and influenced Kenneth’s interest in the outdoors, wildlife, and hunting activities.<ref name=”JM Ch2″>{{cite book |title=The Last White Hunter: Reminiscences of a Colonial Shikari |author1=Donald Anderson |author2=Joshua Mathew |publisher=Indus Source Books |date=March 2018 |pages=54–96}}</ref><ref>{{cite web |url=https://www.indiaofthepast.org/joshua-mathew/stories-about-men/donald-anderson-india-s-last-colonial-hunter |author=Joshua Mathew |title=Donald Anderson: India’s last colonial hunter |website=www.indiaofthepast.org |publisher=India Of The Past |access-date=2025-10-20}}</ref>

Douglas was an officer in the [[British Indian Army]] in the military accounts section. The family moved to [[Bangalore]] during [[World War I]]. They started living in the house of Lucy’s maternal grandfather John Taylor, who, for his services to the [[Mysore Commission]], had been gifted land in Bangalore adjacent to the [[Cubbon Park]] by [[Mark Cubbon (army officer)|Sir Mark Cubbon]], the British Commissioner. Lucy became the head of the choir of [[St. Mark’s Cathedral, Bengaluru|St Mark’s Cathedral]], where they had gotten married in 1908. Douglas used to go [[waterfowl hunting]] in the [[lake]]s and [[pond|tanks]] in and around Bangalore, and influenced Kenneth’s interest in the outdoors, wildlife, and hunting activities.<ref name=”JM Ch2″>{{cite book |title=The Last White Hunter: Reminiscences of a Colonial Shikari |author1=Donald Anderson |author2=Joshua Mathew |publisher=Indus Source Books |date=March 2018 |pages=54–96}}</ref><ref>{{cite web |url=https://www.indiaofthepast.org/joshua-mathew/stories-about-men/donald-anderson-india-s-last-colonial-hunter |author=Joshua Mathew |title=Donald Anderson: India’s last colonial hunter |website=www.indiaofthepast.org |publisher=India Of The Past |access-date=2025-10-20}}</ref>

Scottish-Indian conservationist, hunter and author

Kenneth Douglas Stewart Anderson (8 March 1910 – 30 August 1974), known primarily as Kenneth Anderson or as KDS Anderson, was a Scottish-Indian writer, nature enthusiast, conservationist, and ethical hunter who lived and worked in South India. He authored highly-regarded books based on his experiences hiking, camping, and hunting in the Indian jungles.

Anderson’s brave and skillful hunting of menacing man-eater leopards and tigers earned him the nickname Corbett of the South,^[1][2] in reference to his older North Indian counterpart Jim Corbett. As an ex-hunter expert on wild animals’ behaviour, he was a trailblazer in wildlife tourism in Bangalore, and is admired as a pioneer conservationist in southern India.^[3][4]

Biography

Early life

Kenneth Anderson was born on 8 March 1910 in the Bolarum area of Secunderabad, in the princely state of Hyderabad in British India. He belonged to a Scottish family that had lived in India for many generations, and were originally from Glasgow. He was baptised at the Holy Trinity Church, Bolarum, and was the only child of his parents. He was often called “Jock” by his family and friends, and sometimes “Jock-Scotchie” by the latter.^[5][6] His father, Douglas Stuart Anderson, was the eldest of four children, and was born in Calcutta but brought up in Bolarum. His mother, Lucy Ann Taylor (née Bailey), was a half-orphan who grew up in the guardianship of her two aunts, Mrs Bower and Mrs Bates, after her father left for Belfast, and later, remarried.

Douglas was an officer in the British Indian Army in the military accounts section. The family moved to Bangalore during World War I. They started living in the house of Lucy’s maternal grandfather John Taylor, who, for his services to the Mysore Commission, had been gifted land in Bangalore adjacent to the Cubbon Park by Sir Mark Cubbon, the British Commissioner. Lucy became the head of the choir of St Mark’s Cathedral, where they had gotten married in 1908. Douglas used to go waterfowl hunting in the lakes and tanks in and around Bangalore, and influenced Kenneth’s interest in the outdoors, wildlife, and hunting activities.^[7][8]

Education

Anderson went to Bishop Cotton Boys’ School, and then to St Joseph’s European High School, successfully passing the Senior Cambridge examinations in 1926. He was sent to study law at Edinburgh under guardianship of his uncle Forbes, but abandoned his studies and returned to India in 1928. He was well-versed in Kannada, the language of his hometown, and Tamil, the language of the neighbouring province. He had also picked up a little bit of Telugu, Hindi, and Urdu during his early years in Hyderabad State. He was known to be an intelligent man, and throughout his life he remained an academically inclined avid reader, not limited by subjects or topics.^[7][9][10]

Career

He worked for fifteen years in the Posts & Telegraphs Department. Then in 1956 he joined the colloquial British Aircraft Factory (later HAL)^{[note 1]} in Bangalore as the Factory Manager for Planning, and retired only in 1972 due to illness. In 1950s, his books made him an internationally renowned author, and he received considerable royalties thereafter. In 1960s, he started taking national or international clients to jungle safaris for wildlife observation, thereby becoming a frontrunner in wildlife tourism in the region. He purchased nearly 200 acres of land across Mysore State, Hyderabad State, and Madras Presidency, at more than twenty locations (near forests) including Pondicherry and Ooty.^{[note 2][7][11][12]}

Death

In 1972 Anderson was diagnosed with prostate cancer. He was treated in St Martha’s Hospital in Bangalore, and then in CMC Vellore for Cobalt therapy. However, he could not recover. Later, he was re-admitted to St Martha’s where he died on 30 August 1974. He was buried at the Indian Christian Cemetery^{[note 3]} on Hosur Road in Bangalore.^[6][13][5]

Family

Marriage

Anderson met Blossom Hyacinth Minnette Fleming at the Bowring Club on St Mark’s Road in Bangalore. Her mother, Millicent Toussaint, was a Burgher from Ceylon while her father, Clifford Fleming, was from New South Wales, Australia. She was born on 20 March 1910 in Port Blair, and her family moved to India when she was ten years old. They married in April 1929 at Sorkalpet in Cuddalore, Tamil Nadu, and honeymooned in Pondicherry. They lived in the sprawling 19th-century bungalow which Anderson got from his mother, named Prospect House^{[note 4]}, a landmark of the city on the 12-acre property on Sydney Road (now Kasturba Road) in Bangalore.^[14]

The couple separated in later life. In 1962, Kenneth Anderson moved to his other property named Bijou Cottage in Whitefield, while Blossom stayed on at Prospect House. Blossom Minnette Hyacinth Anderson died of pulmonary edema at St Philomena’s Hospital on 11 March 1987, and was buried next to her husband.

Children

They had two children – a daughter named Margaret June Blossom Lucy Anderson (born 19 June 1930), and a son named Donald Malcolm Stuart Anderson (18 February 1934 – 12 July 2014). June Anderson attended Bishop Cotton Girls’ School, and cleared the Senior Cambridge exam in 1947. She married a British Indian Army officer named Jack Vivian Jones (born 16 November 1927), and the couple initially lived in Wellington in Nilgiris, and then Fatehgarh and Ambala. Her family moved to England in 1951, and then ultimately to Perth, Australia in 1964. She has three children – sons Don and Chris born in India, and daughter Jackie born in Basildon. Donald Anderson studied in Bishop Cotton Boys’ School. He worked for more than two decades at the Bangalore Cotton, Silk and Woolen Mills. He never married, and became a prolific hunter and angler. He decided to stay in India post-independence, and died at the age of 80 in Bangalore.^[15]

Outdoorsmanship

Anderson, since his childhood, was fascinated by animals of all kinds whether mammals, birds, reptiles, or insects. He acquainted himself with them, and keenly studied their behaviour. He started frequently visiting the jungles near Bangalore for hiking or overnight camping. The sport of hunting attracted him with which he was already acquainted due to his father. Post marriage, he even took his family along on many of his trips. At his home, Prospect House, he had a multitude of animals like hyena, cobras, sloth bear, geese, etc.^{[note 5][1]}

Hunting

Anderson took to big-game hunting with his second-hand Winchester Model 1895 rifle chambered for .405 WCF cartridge. He became a hunter extraordinaire with exceptional monitorig and tracking skills, and became famous for his jungle knowledge. His behaviour on hunting trips was highly principled and strictly adhered to the widely accepted code of ethical hunting.^{[note 6]} This led to him being recognised as an epitome of Gentleman Shikari^{[note 7][2]} (“shikari” means “hunter” in Hindustani language). Anderson used to refer to these excursions as his Hunting Escapades. For his preservation-worthy kills, he used the services of Tocher and Tocher Taxidermists.

His competence and bravery in dealing with carnivora ultimately allowed him to pursue a particular high-risk interest, that of eliminating man-eaters and rogues which were terrorising common populace. He excelled in these undertakings, and was sought after and often desperately invited by government officials for such tasks. He is formally credited with having shot 8 man-eating leopards (7 males and 1 female), and 7 tigers (5 males and 2 females) from 1939 to 1966, as per government records.^[16] Though, he is known to have unofficially shot many more as he was many a times personally invited by local people or alerted by his informants, often without government’s involvement or knowledge.

Conservation

“For the sportsmen of the future I strongly recommend the camera, instead of the rifle. It can give you every bit as much fun…”

Anderson stopped hunting, either for sport or trophy, in the second half of his middle age as he became increasingly concerned about the destruction of wildlife and forests in India. He made an exception only for killing man-eaters and even there was very judicious by not acting on rumours alone. He slowly turned to wildlife conservation.^[17] However, he continued his lifelong habit of frequently visiting the forests either as a wilderness wanderer or for seeking solitude. He also got his only son, Donald, to promise him to stop hunting altogether, which he did.^[6]

He started a personal business of organising jungle safaris in forests of southern India for interested parties. He would personally steward such trips, and even promoted them for international clients in magazines like the Audubon.^[19] This venture was quite successful, and made Anderson one of the earliest entrepreneurs in wildlife tourism in India.

Jungle folk

Anderson became well acquainted with many jungle folk from various areas and aboriginal tribes. He was most fond of Byra The Poojare from the Poojaree tribe. Others include Ranga who was a petty shikari who also occasionally took to poaching, and Rachen from the Sholaga tribe. Some of his friends such as Hughie Hailstone also had estates in South India, and he also took fellow hunters as friends like Eric Newcombe.^[20][21]

Writing

Anderson was a proficient raconteur who penned international bestsellers in the mid-20th century. He is well admired among readers of hunting literature. As an author, his style is descriptive and precise as he details his encounters and experiences in the wilderness. His written works reflect his acute powers of observation and his unique sense of humour. His books were originally published in the 1950s in the UK by George Allen & Unwin,^[22][23] and hardcover editions were produced by Rand McNally.^[24] In 21st century, his books are being published internationally by Rupa Publications of India.

Anderson’s books highlight his concern for the natural environment and his conservationist streak as a wildlife chronicler.^[12][11] Many books have accounts of his efforts of hunting man-eating big-cats, mostly successfully.^[26] He also includes details about elephants, bisons, deers, and bears, as well as less popular creatures like Indian Dholes (wild dogs), hyenas, spiders, and snakes. Anderson provides details of the lives of people in or near the Indian jungles of his time, and about poor or non-existent infrastructure. He also delves into the lives of native jungle tribes, mentioning their habits, survival skills, etc.

Legacy

Anderson is considered as one of the foremost nature writers of India, and among the first conservationists in the region.^[11][27] However, observers note that he never got the national fame and official recognition that he deserved.^[16][12] Anderson killed more man-eaters than the more famous Jim Corbett^[4] while also operating over a larger area with varied forests and working amongst a more diverse set of people. This was because Corbett received appreciation during the British Raj while later governments neglected Anderson’s contributions and often took him for granted, and also because being 35 years younger than Corbett, Anderson’s writings came after the hunting literature had already peaked.^[19]

Anderson inspired conservationists like K. Ullas Karanth^[29][30] who became Director of WCS Tiger Conservation Program, and many others. His personal land was incorporated by government in the Bannerghatta National Park, where now stands the Butterfly Park of Bannerghatta Zoo. In 2008, a Kenneth Anderson Nature Society was founded by like-minded admirers.^[3] Private entities have named outdoor places and activities after him like the Kenneth’s Bunker, and Kenneth Anderson Bike Trails.^[31][32][33]

Bibliography

Hunting books

Many of these books are also available in the three volume Omnibus edition by Rupa Publications (ISBN 978-8-1716-7455-8, 978-8-1716-7456-5, 978-8-1291-3272-7).^[34]

Other publications

• The Fires of Passion (1969)
• Jungles Tales for Children (1971)
• Tales of Man Singh: King of Indian Dacoits (1961)
• The Bond Of Love (short story)

Translations

Anderson’s books have been translated into many languages. Popular Kannada writer Poornachandra Tejaswi has translated some of his hunting experiences into Kannada which were published in four volumes as Kadina Kategalu (ಕಾಡಿನ ಕತೆಗಳು).^[35]

Notes

See also

External links

References